01 May 2011

Even though I have been too busy for my own good the past couple of weeks, It has been increasingly hard to stay away from the television. While I am not a huge NBA fan, I do like the playoffs, which are underway right now. Ever since David Robinson was drafted by the San Antonio Spurs, I have been a die hard fan. He is a Christian athlete that I looked up to as a kid and my allegiance for him grew into a love for his team that I have had my whole life. My home town is Memphis, though. And since the Grizzlies moved to Memphis in 2001, they have been my team, with the Spurs a close 2nd.

The problem is that they are both in the Western conference. This year the #1 seeded Spurs were up against the #8 seeded Grizzlies in the first round of the playoffs. The Grizzlies took the first game on the road and that’s when it got tough for me. I knew that something special was happening and I was going to miss it! And I did! In game six, at the FedEx Forum in Memphis, the Grizzlies made history, becoming only the 2nd 8th seed in NBA to beat a 1st seed in the playoffs.

I missed it! By the Commercial Appeal’s, Geoff Calkins’ description, Friday night’s scene at the Forum was quintessentially Memphis: "Friday night was all you needed to see. Friday night was this team, wrapped in one night. What exactly didn’t happen Friday at FedEx Forum?

Jerry Lawler made a second appearance. He pulled his strap down for all the country to see. There was a monkey riding on a border collie at one point, for no obvious reason. The crowd was bonkers. But nervous, too.”

There you go. Memphis. Redneck trying to be uptown. Losers trying to be winners. Little city trying to be big city. It’s the city I love, and I missed it! Oh, well. Now to agonize through second hand accounts of their next series verses the Thunder.

Oh, and by the way, the NFL draft happened this past weekend, too. I heard the Titan’s drafted Jake Locker.

All of my difficulty with this just reminds me of how important TV and sports had become in my life and why I am doing all of this anyways. Sometimes it’s good to be reminded of our weaknesses, even in painful ways. C.S. Lewis said, "Unless Christianity is wholly false, the perception of ourselves which we have in moments of shame must be the only true one.” I think that remembering our past weaknesses (or acknowledging our current ones) helps accomplish these moments of clarity.